Impacts On Farmers’ Livelihoods By The Changes Of Energy Consumption Structure In The Dulong Watershed

Livelihood is a way for human beings to achieve self-development,and energy is the basis for people’s survival and development.Energy supply is closely related to livelihood development.The Dulong Watershed is the last area to be electrified in Yunnan Province,and it is also the only settlement area of the Dulong people.Due to geographical isolation,infrastructure construction such as power supply and road transportation is relatively lagging behind.With the introduction of regional power grids in 2014,the energy consumption structure of local farmers has completely changed,which has profoundly affected the livelihood of the Dulong people.Taking the Dulong Watershed as the research area,through crucial person interviews and structured survey methods,255 household survey data were completed,an analysis framework for energy consumption structure and farmers’ livelihood capital was constructed,and the livelihood capital of different farmers before and after the change of energy consumption structure was compared and analyzed.Changes in livelihood activities,strategy choices,etc.,comprehensively reveal their impact on farmers’ livelihoods.The main research conclusions are as follows:(1)The access to the power grid has enabled farmers in the area to achieve partial and essential electrification of energy for production and living.An average of40% has reduced the total fuelwood consumption of farmers,and the centralized logging of fuelwood has been reduced by 94%.The change in energy consumption structure has promoted the human capital,Increase physical and financial capital.(2)Infrastructures such as transportation,power grid,and communication have been improved,and the Chinese proficiency of farmers of all ages has generally improved,providing opportunities for farmers in villages along the highway to engage in commercial activities(transportation,shops,inns,restaurants,etc.).(3)After transforming the energy consumption structure,the types of farmers’ livelihood activities and the degree of livelihood diversification increased.Although the current livelihood activities are still dominated by grain planting and livestock and poultry breeding and supplemented by gathering activities,their proportions have dropped by 2.3%,1.2% and 30.6% respectively,and the ratios of hand weaving and part-time work have increased by 20.5% and 11% respectively.Obviously,the three new livelihood activities of public welfare work,business and commercial crop cultivation involve many farmers and grow rapidly.(4)The reduction in firewood consumption saves the labor force of farmers,increases the opportunities for farmers to engage in other livelihood activities and the choice of different livelihood strategies,among which the increase in farmers’ going out or working nearby is the most obvious.